How about a Swiss Automatic watch with $1 million in pledges? Safe to say the company has a serious fanbase. Its latest campaign is about bringing the luxury of Swiss automatic watches without the accompanying price tag. Keep the smartwatches, I’ll take timeless over something that I have to upgrade like a phone.

LIV GX1-A

The company’s latest model is assembled by hand in Switzerland, giving owners the bragging rights of owning a Swiss watch. Hey, no one is saying you have to mention you manage to snap one up for sub $500.

A big question of mine when hearing Swiss watch is which manufacturer is being tapped? LIV opted for the Sellita SW-200 movement. Sellita has a long history of building great watch movements and their emphasis on quality was paramount in the decision process of LIV for the GX1-A.

[divider]Dial[/divider]

It’s what everyone will notice first. LIV stays committed to quality with a clean, three-dimensional, multi-layered construction. Everything is easy to read, and it’s not cluttered.

The indices and hands are topped with Super-LumiNova to give visibility at night. Here’s it in action:

I’m sold on this minimal look when it comes to nighttime visibility. It gives off the right amount and doesn’t double as a flashlight. I may or may not use my phone as a flashlight. What? Whenever you need one, they disappear, and the damn flash on an iPhone is blinding.

[divider]Sapphire[/divider]

Sorry mineral crystal fans. It scratches too easily, smudges and looks sorta cheap when the light bounces off the dial. LIV chose sapphire for all the right reasons. It’s damn near impervious to scratches. Of course, nothing is 100 percent. Don’t start testing the limits of the watch by rolling it down your driveway.

Sapphire also manages to look new for years. Other watch face materials don’t. A fact of life. The way it reflects light gives off the impression you destroyed a bank account buying a watch.

LIV GX1-A Options

I’m not sure LIV intended to sound like Oprah, but damn. Everyone gets an option. First up, colors.

Well, shit. I don’t know which one I like the best. Normally, I can immediately choose. I’ve stared at the renderings for a day now, and I’ve narrowed down my favorites to two – the All Grey & Grey and All Black & White.

What about straps? Pick between silicone, leather, NATO or canvas style. I like how both the silicone and NATO straps look on the automatics.

[divider]Packaging[/divider]

The presentation is just as important as anything else. LIV shines here with the custom box the automatic arrives in and the bag. Nice one on the ‘Dare to LIV’ on both the tag and bag.

LIV Kickstarter

We know the drill, it’s crowdfunded which means a waiting period. July-August 2016 is the shipping timeframes from LIV.

The funding goal for the Swiss automatic? $40,000. It’s sitting at a million dollars. I may live in Alabama, but even new math has the project funded.

[divider]Pricing[/divider]

It starts at $459 and goes from there. There is a menu of options to add to your pledge. You create the watch you want. Or watches. LIV offers custom boxes to build your collection.

Finally, the features. It’s not aesthetics only. That is normally enough for me, but the feature-set of the GX1-A is everything you’d expect in a Swiss automatic without the price. Head over to the campaign page to learn more.